What's Sara Reading? What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum

Well, since I've been doing what I do best and traveling every couple of weeks, you must have expected a "What's Sara Reading?" post at some point, right? Because, as usual, I beefed up my Kindle for the flights and devoured some really good books as I made my way to and from Vegas recently.

My favorite? What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum. I tend to buy 2 books before a trip - 1 intriguing general fiction book that I've had on my reading list and 1 YA book. I still find YA more creative, enjoyable, heart-wrenching, and all around the style of writing that can suck me in so when I am traveling, I usually snuggle right on into a good YA book.

What to Say Next was definitely one that did all of the above. At one point, during the book's biggest turning point, I could feel my heart ache for the main characters, Kit and David, and I found myself hoping the two gentlemen seated beside me (I was stuck in a middle seat) didn't think I was a total weirdo as I was silently crying into my Diet Coke and pretzels.

After Kit's father is killed in a car accident, she needs to escape the everyday conversation and noise of her usual lunch table and finds herself taking a seat at David's empty table. David, a loner who has never sat with anyone at lunch, is shocked to find Kit sitting beside him. She does it again the next day. And the next. Soon they become friends and not only is David's brutal honesty refreshing to Kit in a time where everyone is walking on eggshells, Kit's friendliness is just what David needs as he struggles to find his way through high school as the "weird" kid.

I found this story to be truly believable even though, to be honest, at its core, it is is one of the most cliche story lines of YA fiction (pretty girl experiences tragedy, pretty girl sits with loner boy to escape and they become friends, loner boy shows her he is a great guy after all and they become more than friends).

That aside, once you got past that cliche, the story is just so much MORE than that. These characters were just SO real and SO well written. David's quirkiness and development mixed with Kit's eventual downfall into the darkness of the loss of her father just tore into my heart. I wanted to join their lunch table so I could just hug them both.

For my outfit inspired by the read, I could only think of one dress that matched the Popsicle color scheme of the cover - this Bernie Dexter Mari dress that I snagged last summer and wore to Paris this past fall. However, I didn't want to just wear the dress again as is so I snagged one of my favorite skirts by Julie Mollo and transformed the dress into a top!

It's funny, I think I rock my Julie Mollo skirts quite often for these book inspired posts. No doubt that it's because they're REVERSIBLE and even though I own only 2, I have 4 options with them in my closet! Makes creating new and fun looks quite easy! Bravo, Julie!

As you can see from these photos, Spring is finally showing itself. We had BEAUTIFUL weather this weekend. Saturday was sunny and hit 70 degrees and it felt SO good running errands with the windows down and the music up.

I've been on a Fall Out Boy kick lately and have made a playlist on my Spotify of ALL their albums. They're one of the few bands (like my number one man, Panic! at the Disco) that I have bought every album from since day one and have loved every single thing they have done. Do you have any favorites like that?